Saturday, January 31, 2009

general stuff

finally the project I have been working on for the last 2 years (work) is coming to an end and I am moving on to the next one. excited?? nah!!! It's just work... my company reports quarterly results in a few days... wondering how it will go and whether they will announce any layoffs...

Today was one hectic day. I am down with a cold...I guess got it from Shruti or any of the millions of other people who are roaming around sick in this cold season. Nalin started Tennis lessons today. Its fun to see how the instructor makes these lessons fun for the kids. When we reached the tennis courts for his class, he was clingy and not willing to go join the other kids... 5 minutes later, he was having so much fun that he didn't even care if I was there anymore... In the evening Shruti had her soccer class.... Nalin and I decided to tag along. While Ruchi and Shruti played soccer, I helped Nalin ride his bike (no training wheels). He is coming along great and should be biking without the training wheels in a few days. He did fall once because he was going too fast and I was not holding him.... but no crying. :)

The house in front of ours is sold (short sale). guess what... another desi family (7th on our street). Ruchi is all excited... can't wait to walk over and welcome them to the neighborhood. Since it was a short sale, it affected the everyone's house values on the street negatively.

Finally, found some more funnies.... enjoy!!!

http://pointblank2006.blogspot.com/

Monday, January 26, 2009

some funnies...

I just realized that I haven't had a funnies post for quiet some time now...so here goes. Enjoy...

IDIOT SIGHTING:
We had to have the garage door repaired. The Sears repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener. I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one Sears made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, 'Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower.' I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, 'NO, it's not.' Four is larger than two..'

We haven't used Sears repair since.

IDIOT SIGHTING:

My daughter and I went through the McDonald's take-out window and I gave the clerk a $5 bill. Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her a quarter. She said, 'you gave me too much money.' I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar bill back.' She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request. I did so, and he handed me back the quarter, and said 'We're sorry but they could not do that kind of thing.' The clerk then proceeded to give me back $1 and 75 cents in change..

Do not confuse the clerks at McD's.

IDIOT SIGHTING :
I live in a semi rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our ro ad. The reason: 'Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.'


IDIOT SIGHTING IN FOOD SERVICE :
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.' He said he was sorry, but they only had ice burg lettuce.
From Kansas City



IDIOT SIGHTING:
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, 'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?' To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?' He smiled knowingly and nodded,
'That's why we ask.'

Happened in Birmingham , Ala.




IDIOT SIGHTING :
The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, 'What on earth are b lind people doing driving?!'

She was a probation officer in Wichita , KS


IDIOT SIGHTING :
At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker. She was leaving the company due to 'downsizing.' Our manager commented cheerfully, 'This is fun We should do this more often.' Not another word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare.

This was a lunch at Texas Instruments.


IDIOT SIGHTING :
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the sake of her life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on.

A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriffs office.



IDIOT SIGHTING

When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. 'Hey,' I announced to the technician, 'its open!' His reply, 'I know. I already got that side.'

This was at the Ford dealership in Canton, MS

Ok, now for a really funny one that is sure to alienate one section of my reading audience while at the same time invoking tears in the other section...

A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband was not in their bed.

She puts on her dressing gown and goes downstairs to look for him.

She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a hot cup of coffee in
front of him. He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the
wall.

She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his coffee.

'What's the matter, dear?' she whispers as she steps into the room,
'Why are you down here at this time of night?'

The husband looks up from his coffee, 'I am just remembering when we
first met 20 years ago and started dating. You were only 16. Do you
remember back then?' he says solemnly.

The wife is touched to tears thinking that her husband is so caring,
so sensitive.

'Yes, I do' she replies.

The husband pauses. The words were not coming easily.

'Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car?'

'Yes, I remember!' said the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him.

The husband continues. 'Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in
my face and said, 'Either you marry my daughter, or I will send you to
jail for 20 years?'

'I remember that too' she replies softly.

He wipes another tear from his cheek and says...

'I would have been released today.'

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

starting early...

My son is just 5 1/2 years old. Yesterday, when Ruchi went to pick him up from school, a girl from his class (Alicia) came over and handed a paper over to my wife. She had drawn a house on the paper and a heart next to it. On the other side, it said: :To Nalin, From Alicia". Now that is so funny...

1) My 5 year old's first love letter... :)
2) The girl handed it over to my wife... ?? (skip the "hide my love" step)

Now fast forward the scene to later in the evening when I am sitting with my son and he is doing his homework. I gently asked him about the paper and he says...

"You know dad... I don't play with the boys in my class anymore. I have 2 girlfriends.. Alicia and Riya. I play with them only". I was shocked but closed my mouth before it hit the floor...and asked "Do the other boys in your class play with the girls" and he replied "No, they don't like the girls. Only I like to play with the girls". and as if all this was not enough, he continued ... "You know, when Alicia was leaving for home, she turned around and said bye to me..". Now you can picture the "Dil waale Dulhanyiya le jayege" music in the background... At this point, my wife brought me a glass of water. :)

I guess, public school or private school, its all the same. The kids are maturing too soon, too fast.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

movie marathon

I guess we have been on a movie watching marathon last couple of weeks. Sunday, we watched Ghajani... Well, I had been warned previously that there is a lot of violence in the movie so I was kinda prepared...but I must admit that I was really turned off by the violence that the movie has. Aamir khan has acted well and so have Asin and Jia Khan. For Jia, I guess this is a big step forward after that horrendous role in Nishabd. Overall, what a contrast - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi vs Ghajani. Both were good in their own rights. Rab Ne was pure entertainment and fun. Anushka Sharma definitely impressed. Ghajani was a really intense movie but watching it once is more than enough. I guess I liked Rab ne more.

I guess the gods (atleast the rain god) heard my plea in my previous post. Today was the last sunny day...starting tomorrow, it is expected to rain every day through the weekend.

Lastly, I got a traffic ticket today...stupid, stupid, stupid!!!! Ruchi came over for lunch to my company and we headed over to the ranch. On the way back, she gave me the keys to drive and her Jeep was out of gas....so I turned towards the gas station... Stopped at the traffic light, yielded to oncoming cars and turned left... Immediately we heard the cop siren and nervously I looked in the rear view... a motorcycle cop was on my ass with lights and siren blazing... I took a deep breath...

Cop: Hi!!
Me: Hello, How are you?
Cop: Do you know why I stopped you? you just jumped a red light.
Me: (sinking feeling) Oh god... Sorry. I thought it was an unprotected left turn....I didn't realize...
Cop: Please give me your License, Registration and Insurance...
I did what he asked ...At this point I was 100% sure that I was getting a ticket... so I just took a deep breath and smiled.
...later...
Cop: Thank you sir for being co-operative (as if I had any other choice) and drive safely.
Ruchi: We will be careful next time...
Me: I couldn't help burst out laughing at Ruchi's comment.... :)

So I fill gas in the jeep and as I get in....
Ruchi: look at that car... the guy just took a U turn...I guess he is smart...not like us to get a ticket for left turn(the guy had taken a U turn about 50 feet before the traffic light...illegal of course)

Right then we saw the same traffic cop pulling up that guy and giving him a ticket... :)

I guess this cop must be one of the top performers given the speed with which he was handing out tickets....

Anyways, most likely I am down $300 or so + traffic school... DANG!!!!!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

kichdi post

I'm back after about a week... We are enjoying some unusually warm weather in the middle of winter. Heck, no one's complaining about the temperature hovering in the 70s... but we sure could use some rain.

Work is the same old same old....there is quite a bit of change happening with lot of focus on moving work to India. Lot of pressure to finish up current deliverables as soon as possible.

Last night R and I went to watch Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi in the theatre. The kids were asleep at home with Dadu. I liked the movie - good 3 hour clean, fun entertainment. I guess R found is average. After the movie, decided to take up the theatre on their offer of "Fresh Mitha paan". Big mistake.... the guy got them out of the fridge and the paans were all dry... horrible. Never again I promised myself.

Today was sunny again. While R took S to a birthday party, I took off the training wheels from N's cycle and took him cycling. I guess a few more days of practice like this and he will be biking around by himself without the wheels.

We got the windows changed in our house and the drapes fixed. OMG, the house looks so nice now... we should have got this done long time back.

Kids watching Thomas DVD on Tv, Dadu watching Chandni Chowk to China on the computer, Yours truely sitting on the computer totally bored while R is enjoying a later afternoon/evening siesta. So long for now...

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

sick new year

Its been a crazy couple of weeks. Christmas day Shruti got the viral fever which lasted about a week. Then New years day Nalin got the viral. He is still recovering. All this while Ruch and I were fighting off the germs. Last night I got the virus or so it seems... lots of body ache and shivering, in the morning I had some fever too. So, played it safe and working from home today. It appears that Shruti might be ready for round 2 ... she was sniffling today in the morning on her way to the day care. :( Not a good start to the new year. The weather is horrible right now... cold, foggy.... everyone at work is coughing, sick etc.

Hoping that warmer weather returns soon and we feel better.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

new year eve celebration and beyond

2008 was drawing to a close and we wanted to send it off in style. So 4 families got together (including us) and we went to the party at Bombay Garden. We reached there around 8ish.. our friends were already there and so were a lot of other people. Right away everyone attacked the appetizers while the kids hit the dance floor (the staff put lots of baloons on the dance floor which attracted the kids like flies to honey). I and Nalin did a few twists on the dance floor to some cool bollywood numbers. Around 9 or so, they opened up the floor to everyone...Beer, wine, champagne (all on the house) flowed like water... The DJ belted out one hit after another and soon the mood was so upbeat and the atmosphere electric that the dance floor was full with bache, budhe and naojawaan.... gyrating to the songs. No one was self-conscious. Shruti was a bit overwhelmed by the crowd and wouldn't get down from mom's godi...Around 10:30 or so, tired and exhaused, we headed back to our tables for dinner. By 11:00 or so everyone was back at the floor... It was quite a party. :) At midnight we all had a champagne toast. Nalin and RP wouldn't stop dancing. Finally we forced them to leave at 1 am, spent the night at a friend's house and headed home the next morning (around noon).

Since then, 2009 has been one lazy year... haven't gone out yet, been sitting around, lazing away. Watched "Oye lucky, lucky oye" today... what a faltu ki movie but i guess it was ok for time pass.We were going to watch another movie tonight but Ruch went to sleep... well, I guess we will watch 2 movies tomorrow.